Ecuador: Guillermo Lasso has lifted the state of exception due to indigenous protests

In a surprise move, President Guillermo Lasso said on Saturday end of the state of emergency which he ruled “due to serious internal unrest” in six provinces of Ecuador. The decision was made public while the National Assembly is considering a request for presidential dismissal, drawn up by the opposition bloc Union for Hope (Unes).

With an executive decree, the president made the provision official, with which “the national government ratifies the provision to ensure the generation of spaces for peacein which Ecuadorians can gradually resume their activities, ” reads a statement reproduced by the AP news agency.

In the legislature, a virtual session continues in which Unes, supported by the states of exception decreed by the Executive “due to serious internal turmoil” and already non-existent, asks for the application of article 130 for the presidential impeachmentfor which it would require 92 votes in favor.

The government’s last-minute decision follows an initial rapprochement that took place a few hours earlier between the government and Ecuador’s largest indigenous organization, and which was confirmed by the president of the National Assembly, Virgilio Saquicela, who reported on the eventual formation of a commission that makes dialogue feasible and puts an end to a national strike that lasted 13 days.

The meeting took place in the Basilica church, located in the colonial center of Quito, which was attended by the president of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE), Leónidas Iza, accompanied by other social leaders, as well as the minister of the government. , Francisco Jiménez, Foreign Minister Juan Carlos Holguín and other regime officials informed Saquicela in press statements.

“There was no commitment, but simply the decision of the Conaie to consult its bases on the appointment of a commission to start this dialogue”, assured Saquicela, ratifying that “by the government there was the corresponding opening” .

The head of the legislature indicated that this is “progress”, because “we asked for tensions to be lowered, for clashes to be lowered while this dialogue is taking place and a solution is found”.

“Instead of frightening us more, they have rather raised our rebellion, our dignity”, said Leónidas Iza, president of the Cotopaxi Indigenous and Peasant Movement, harangued by those present, to whom he reiterated that he had come to Quito with a proposal and The measure will be concluded only when the request has been answered. Among the ten points that the organization requires are the reduction of fuel prices, the abolition of the state of emergency, among others.

The leader said they did not come to the capital to commit “vandalism” and asked to pacify the country so as not to clash between brothers, but called the operation by which they were evicted a “brutal attack of violence”. Friday from the House of Culture where they held a popular assembly and to which he said they would return to make a minga and clean it, as in the places where they are welcomed.

Iza stressed that they will rest for the weekend and called for steps or corridors to be opened in the interprovincial border areas to allow the passage of food and supply Quito, which has to cope with the shortage of agricultural products.

Near the El Arbolito park, on Saturday afternoon the presence of demonstrators was evident who expressed themselves amidst dances, dances and whistles. There is an important military and police contingent on the spot, without any clashes.

Other social organizations such as the Confederation of Indigenous and Black Farmers of Ecuador (FENOCIN) and the United Workers’ Front (FUT) have condemned the statement made on Friday by President Guillermo Lasso on the progressive use of force.

In a statement, the Organization of Nations urged all political and social actors in Ecuador to “urgently initiate a meaningful dialogue in good faith” that will resolve the tension and put an end to the violence. The Commission, also the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), called for an inclusive dialogue in a statement “addressing the requests of groups that have historically found themselves in a situation of vulnerability and in full respect of human rights”.

The civil organization Alliance for Human Rights, in a press conference, reported Saturday that the group of the international mission of solidarity and human rights of Argentina will participate in an observation on the spot rejecting a “deepening of the repression” against by the state. and an “attack on the peace zones”, where the demonstrators reside, said activist Marianela Navarro. She added that her role will be to make visible at the international level “the serious situation that the Ecuadorian people are going through” to ask for “the right to life, free protest and all social rights are guaranteed”.

The national police recognized four dead and hundreds of injured among demonstrators, police and military.

Lasso, a former right-wing banker, has been in power for just over a year, after defeating the running candidate Andrés Arauz in 2021.

DB